Strong ties have developed between cancer researchers at Meharry Medical College (MMC) and the[unreadable] Vanderbilt-lngram Comprehensive Cancer Center (VICC) over the past five years of their formal partnership.[unreadable] The bedrock of this pioneering collaboration has been the U54 from the NCI. Our partnership is dedicated to[unreadable] enhancing the strengths and eliminating the weaknesses of our two institutions as we move toward our[unreadable] shared goal of eliminating cancer disparities in the US. The U54 award has moved our collaborative[unreadable] research program more forcefully toward a relationship that is based on reciprocity and stronger mutual[unreadable] benefit. Until recently, MMC viewed itself primarily as a teaching institution and, therefore, did not have a[unreadable] critical mass of researchers in cancer. MMC, with pivotal help from U54 funds, is growing its capacity but[unreadable] has a thriving concentration of cancer researchers in cancer biology, cancer epidemiology and clinical[unreadable] cancer research. The U54 has provided the major impetus for a bold restructuring of the basic science[unreadable] departments at MMC that will assure release time for MMC investigators. The Division of Cancer Biology,[unreadable] headed by Dr. Adunyah, Co-Pi of the U54 at MMC will consist of faculty with 80% release time for research.[unreadable] In cooperation with the U54 Pis, mentoring committees consisting of faculty from MMC and VICC will assist[unreadable] faculty in developing competitive research programs. This restructure was due, in part, to recommendations[unreadable] made by our Program Steering Committee at their 2003 and 2004 meetings. Funds provided by this U54 will[unreadable] solidify our collaboration. During this second phase of our partnership, we concentrate on amassing[unreadable] sufficient infrastructure for cancer research that will strengthen reciprocity between MMC and VICC. In[unreadable] addition to funding research studies, funds will be used to recruit investigators and strengthen infrastructure[unreadable] in basic, epidemiologic and clinical cancer research at MMC. A critical mass of researchers in all these[unreadable] areas will strengthen the quality of MMC/VICC collaborative efforts. A sustained and comprehensive Cancer[unreadable] Partnership between MMC and VICC is of immense benefit to the two participating institutions as well as the[unreadable] mid-South region of the US. Our major collaborative successes including the Southern Community Cohort[unreadable] Study of urban and rural African Americans and Caucasians in the mid-South testify to our potential for[unreadable] meeting our goal of eliminating cancer disparities between African Americans and Caucasians.[unreadable]